Congress upset with TVK over PM candidature:Says ministers will resign if Rahul Gandhi is not accepted; MLA seated with Oppn in House

The dispute between the Congress and Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) in Tamil Nadu over the 2029 Prime Ministerial candidature has intensified. Meanwhile, Congress MLA Tharhai Cuthbert’s seat in the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly has been changed. He will now sit on the Opposition benches. On Sunday, State Tourism Minister S. Rajesh Kumar backed Congress leader Rahul Gandhi as the party’s Prime Ministerial candidate for the 2029 Lok Sabha elections. He said that if the TVK did not support Rahul Gandhi, Congress ministers in the state Cabinet would resign. TVK’s Public Works Department (PWD) Minister Aadhav Arjuna had earlier said that the country’s next Prime Minister should be a leader from Tamil Nadu. His remarks were seen as an attempt to project TVK chief Vijay as a potential candidate for the Prime Minister’s post. Dispute began after MOTN survey The row comes days after India Today released its Mood of the Nation (MOTN) survey on August 27. According to the survey, Prime Minister Narendra Modi remained the public’s first choice for Prime Minister, with 48.7% of respondents backing him. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi ranked second with 27.1%, while 9.2% of respondents chose Vijay as their preferred candidate for the Prime Minister’s post. DMK says ‘there is no limit to imagination’ DMK leader RS Bharathi on Monday took a dig at the TVK, saying that “there is no limit to imagination”. Meanwhile, Congress leader Karti Chidambaram dismissed TVK chief C. Joseph Vijay’s ambition to be projected as the Prime Ministerial candidate for the 2029 Lok Sabha elections. He said that a party must win at least 272 Lok Sabha seats to form a government and make its leader Prime Minister. Congress MP Manickam Tagore, meanwhile, termed the Mood of the Nation (MOTN) survey “fraudulent”. DMK leader TKS Elangovan also backed the Congress’ position on projecting Rahul Gandhi as the Prime Ministerial candidate rather than Vijay. Elangovan said the Congress is one of the country’s leading political parties and has governed India for several years. Questioning the TVK’s claim, he asked how the party could seek to project Vijay as its Prime Ministerial candidate. The news is being updated…